HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS BASKETBALL: TCA claims its tourney's crown

HAMILTON — The Trenton Catholic girls basketball team was able to do Sunday what their boys squad failed to do the day before: win the tournament they host.

The Iron Mikes won Flight One of their PrimeTime ESCIT tournament by beating Conwell Egan 64-34 at the Iron Palace, despite playing without senior guard Marcia Senatus. The win gave TCA its third ESCIT title in the past four years.

“This is really the first time we’ve got any high-low action, and it looks real good,” TCA coach Khaliq Lewis-El said after the game. “Our kids need to buy into basic basketball: inside and out.”

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The inside in that inside-out formula was 6-foot-2 junior center and Player of the Game Tyler Raysor, who was an absolute force on the inside, scoring 22 points and controlling the paint on the defensive end with her physical presence.

“Its always part of the game plan to feed the bigs, and then we just kick it back out,” Raysor said. “Tonight, I was just finishing a little more than usual, so they kept feeding me.”

After a solid opening quarter in which the Iron Mikes built a 16-10 lead, they absolutely dominated the second defensively in their 2-3 zone, giving up just a single bucket. On the other end, TCA continued to pound the ball inside, stretching its lead to 32-12 at the half.

When asked how big a part defense was in the win, Raysor had a simple answer.

“The whole thing.”

The score would have been more lopsided if the Eagles hadn’t shot the ball so effectively from downtown. Senior Kelli Pielli knocked down three triples, while Ashley Smith had four.

Even with TCA’s star point guard Isis Young having a relatively quiet night with just nine points, however, the Eagles simply couldn’t stay with the Iron Mikes, who many believe are not just one of the best teams in New Jersey, but in the nation.

For a team with that kind of pedigree, the ESCIT title is nice, but the real ambition is something larger.

“I just want to bring it back to what we had in 2011, winning the (Tournament of Champions). This is the start right here,” Raysor said.

Junior forward Erin Garner added 10 for the Iron Mikes, while Smith led the Eagles with 19.